According to a report from the Financial Times, citing “people familiar with the decisions,” Apple is set to be “fined and ordered to revise its App Store rules” in the European Union as soon as next week. The fines, however, won’t be as dramatic as initially expected, thanks in part to President Trump.
The European Commission underwent a competition leadership change in December, leading to a strategy shift. Today’s report says the new commission is focusing more on “the compliance of Big Tech companies with the law than on potential high fines in the billions of Euros.”
Under the Digital Markets Act, Apple could face fines of up to 10% of its global revenue. This would equate to tens of billions of dollars, but the EU is reportedly now “aiming for fines that fall below that threshold.”
Citing its sources, the Financial Times says Apple will face “minimal fines” for failing to adequately comply with the DMA. The decision to only hit Apple with “minimal fines” is reportedly driven partly to “avoid escalating tensions with US President Donald Trump.”
Trump has been an outspoken critic of the EU’s investigations into US-based tech companies like Apple and Meta. During his presidential campaign, Trump said Apple CEO Tim Cook called him directly to complain about the company’s battle with EU regulators. Cook also donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.
Since taking office, Trump has called EU fines a “form of taxation” and “overseas extortion.” In a directive issued last month, the Trump Administration threatened to impose tariffs on Europe to combat its fines against US tech companies.
In January, the Financial Times reported that the European Union was “reassessing its investigations of tech groups” after Trump was elected. The EU denied that report and said “there is no such review taking place” and instead there are simply routine meetings to assess the generate state of its ongoing investigations.
The plans are being presented to the EU’s 27 member states today, with an announcement set for next week.
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